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Hey there! Welcome to the brand new YAPG (Yet Another Pokémon Guide)
by me, Eric42. This guide covers the Pokémon Gym Leaders in Red and
Blue (a separate version is being made for Pokémon Yellow). Remember
that the strategies that I talk about here are my own. I may have read
some of them elsewhere, what I end up listing is based on my own
experience.
Note:
This Guide does not cover the Elite Four, as I am writing a separate
Guide for that. Also, this guide does not cover Pokémon Yellow, as I
am creating a separate version for Yellow.
Version History:
v.0.90 (the current version): First release. All is new.
Planned Changes/Additions:
v.1.00: Strategies for taking on the trainers in the gym OTHER than
just the Gym Leader.
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Gym Leader #1
Pewter City Gym
Gym Leader Name: Brock
Gym Leader Pokémon:
* Level 12 Geodude (#74: Rock/Ground)
* Level 14 Onix (#95: Rock/Ground)
Prizes:
* Boulder Badge
Gives a slight boost in your Pokémon defense
* TM 34 (skill: Bide)
Strategy:
If you are one of those that use the Pokémon that they started off
with, then you should use either Bulbasaur or Squirtle to defeat
Brock's Pokémon, as they have a much better time than Charmander would.
But the thing is, Charmander CAN defeat Brock's rock Pokémon, but it
would have to be a bit higher in level than Bulbasaur or Squirtle.
But my recommendation is still to find and catch a Caterpie and train
it into, at least, a level 12 Butterfree so that it will learn
Confusion. Confusion does some great damage against rock Pokémon. A
quick note: In Red, Caterpie is harder to find and Weedle is the most
common. In Blue, it's the other way around. No matter which color
pack you have, Caterpie is the only one so far that can learn
Confusion.
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Gym Leader #2
Cerulean City Gym
Gym Leader Name: Misty
Gym Leader Pokémon:
* Level 18 Staryu (#120: Water)
* Level 21 Starmie (#121: Water/Psychic)
Prizes:
* Cascade Badge
All Pokémon up to level 30 will now obey you; can now use Cut
anywhere and at anytime outside of battle.
* TM 11 (skill: Bubblebeam)
Strategy:
If you can, before you even enter Mt. Moon, try to have a Pikachu and
train it hard. If you do, you could defeat Misty easy. If you have a
Pikachu, but it's weak, go train it hard real quick. You may even
still want to capture an Oddish (Red Only) or a Bellsprout (Blue Only)
to backup Pikachu. Of course, make sure that they are trained good.
Also good to use is Bulbasaur (or Ivysaur if you've done a lot of
training to it by now) with it's Leech Seed ability. Squirtle and
Charmander don't do much damage, but they can defeat Misty's water
Pokémon but they have to be high in level to do so.
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Gym Leader #3
Vermilion City Gym
Gym Leader Name: Lt. Surge
Gym Leader Pokémon:
* Level 21 Voltorb (#100: Electric)
* Level 18 Pikachu (#25: Electric)
* Level 24 Raichu (#26: Electric)
Prizes:
* Thunder Badge
Can now use Fly anywhere outside of battle;
the speed of all your Pokémon increases
* TM 24 (skill: Thunderbolt)
Strategy:
Ground or Rock Pokémon is the best Pokémon to bring into this match.
Try to have captured a Geodude at Mt. Moon, or go capture one in Rock
Tunnel. Train it hard and evolve the Geodude into a Graveler. If you
do go to Rock Tunnel, capture an Onix there as well. If you don't want
to travel that far, go over into Diglett Cave and capture a Diglett
and/or Dugtrio and train them hard.
The DIG ability does come in handy during this match if you have a
Pokémon that can use Dig, such as Diglett, but otherwise, you just have
to be on your toes. If you started Charmander, you might end up with
upper hand here because it can grow strong if you've been training it.
If you started with Squirtle, bringing it into the battle will cause
you to loose, so don't even bother. Bulbasaur is about the same way.
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Gym Leader #4
Celadon City Gym
Gym Leader Name: Erika
Gym Leader Pokémon:
* Level 29 Victreebel (#71: Grass/Poison)
* Level 24 Tangela (#114: Grass)
* Level 29 Vileplume (#45: Grass/Poison)
Prizes:
* Rainbow Badge
All Pokémon up to level 50 will always obey you
* TM 21 (skill: MegaDrain)
Strategy:
Erika is an easy trainer to defeat, in my humble opinion at least. If
you started with Charmander, bring it on into the battle, since Grass
Pokémon is weak to Fire Pokémon. Don't bring in Squirtle, as Grass
Pokémon is strong to water attacks. Bulbasaur is in the middle; in
high levels, it could be useful here, otherwise, don't bother.
You can catch either a Vulpix (Blue Only) or a Growlithe (Red Only) on
Routes 7 and 8 which is the road you take to get to this gym. Catch
one of them and train it some. They are fire-based and are very
useful. You may want to catch one even if you already have Charmander
just so you have a fire-based backup.
Also watch out for the Poison attacks that Erika's Pokémon can use, so
you may want to bring a bunch of Antidotes just be careful.
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Gym Leader #5
Saffron City Gym
Gym Leader Name: Sabrina
Gym Leader Pokémon:
* Level 38 Kadabra (#64: Psychic)
* Level 37 Mr. Mime (#122: Psychic)
* Level 38 Venomoth (#49: Bug/Poison)
* Level 43 Alakazam (#65: Psychic)
Prizes:
* Marsh Badge
All Pokémon up to level 70 will always obey you
* TM 46 (skill: PsyWave)
Strategy:
Sabrina can be a hard Trainer to beat simply because of the levels of
her Psychic Pokémon. The best Pokémon to have here are Ghost Pokémon,
which you can get from Lavender Tower's Pokémon Tower, which you should
have "completed" just before coming to this gym. Bug Pokémon are good
as well.
A common attack from Sabrina's Pokémon is Confusion and Confusion-
causing attacks. You can try to brave out the Confusion but that's
risky. Try have at least three to four Pokémon on hand so you can
change to another if the one you are using gets confused. And one last
note, try not to use Fighting Pokémon as they are weak to the Psychic-
based attacks.
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Gym Leader #6
Fuchsia City Gym
Gym Leader Name: Koga
Gym Leader Pokémon:
* Level 37 Koffing (#109: Poison)
* Level 39 Muk (#89: Poison)
* Level 37 Koffing (#109: Poison)
* Level 43 Weezing (#110: Poison)
Prizes:
* Soul Badge
The Defense of your Pokémon is raised
* TM 06 (skill: Toxic)
Strategy:
Koga's Poison Pokémon can be a terrible experience to anyone that
isn't prepared for it. Ground or Psychic-type Pokémon can be your
friends in this Pokémon battle. Of course, bring some Antidotes, but
mainly bring in some strong Pokémon. Charmander does good in this
battle, as does Squirtle. Bulbasaur can survive, but only at really
high levels. Even then, it's weak to the Poison-based attacks of
Koga's Pokémon.
Bring a Rock/Ground-type Pokémon like Graveler or a ground-type like
Dugtrio. Ghost Pokémon does pretty good as well. Grass Pokémon is
somewhat weak to Poison Pokémon, so of course, don't bring any in.
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Gym Leader #7
Cinnabar City Gym
Gym Leader Name: Blaine
Gym Leader Pokémon:
* Level 42 Growlithe (#58: Fire)
* Level 40 Ponyta (#77: Fire)
* Level 42 Rapidash (#78: Fire)
* Level 47 Arcanine (#59: Fire)
Prizes:
* Volcano Badge
Boosts the power of all your Pokémon's special attacks
* TM 38 (skill: Fire Blast)
Strategy:
Blaine's Fire Pokémon are a strong force, so do not underestimate
them. Water, Ground, and Rock-type Pokémon do good against Fire-type
Pokémon, but Grass and Bug-types are weak to Fire-type Pokémon. Don't
bring in Bulbasaur. Charmander can make the battle interesting since
Fire Pokémon are weak to Fire-based attacks.
Depending on the levels of the Pokémon you bring in, this battle can
end up being a long one. Of course, for a quick win, bring in some
high-level Pokémon, but other wise, bring in a decently-leveled Rock
Pokémon. I tend to find that Fighting Pokémon do well since they are
often strong anyway and since they aren't weak (nor strong) to Fire-
type Pokémon, they might make this match a fun one.
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Gym Leader #8
Viridian City Gym
Gym Leader Name: Giovanni
Gym Leader Pokémon:
* Level 45 Rhyhorn (#111: Ground/Rock)
* Level 42 Dugtrio (#51: Ground)
* Level 43 Nidoqueen (#31: Poison/Ground)
* Level 45 Nidoking (#34: Poison/Ground)
* Level 50 Rhydon (#112: Ground/Rock)
Prizes:
* Earth Badge
ALL Pokémon obey, despite their level
* TM 27 (skill: Fissure)
Strategy:
Giovanni's Ground-type Pokémon can be frustrating to battle. First,
don't even dare bring in any Electric-type Pokémon, as any Electric-
based attacks doesn't do ANYTHING. You may not want to bring in any
type of Fire-type Pokémon either as the Ground-based attacks does extra
damage to Fire-type Pokemon. Water, Grass, and Ice Pokémon are the
best types that you can bring in. Bulbasaur might be a great bet here
as well as Squirtle if you started with either one.
Remember that some of Giovanni's Pokémon can cause Poison, so bring a
bunch of Antidotes. No matter what kind of Pokémon you bring in, make
sure they are high in levels, as it's almost required for them to be,
since Giovanni's Pokémon are STRONG.
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Alright, sorry that I am not covering the Elite Four in this guide,
but I am planning to do a separate guide the Elite Four. Watch for it
soon, if it's not already out. Thanks for reading this and if you have
any comments, you can email me at eric42@planetc.com.